Welcome to Week 21 of the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. This week, we wrap up our journey to a clutter-free bathroom by clearing out and organizing the area around the tub and shower.  

This post was originally published in May 2021 and republished in May 2024.

I’m really noticing a big difference from the last few weeks of bathroom decluttering. We often neglect our bathrooms, but they are an important room in our home. I love starting and ending the day in a clutter-free bathroom. And my regular cleaning is so much faster with less clutter to deal with. Considering how much I hate cleaning, anything that makes that chore easier is a win for me.

Are you ready for week 21? Let’s get decluttering!

What is the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge?

In this year-long journey, we’re tackling one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. If you’ve just joined us, no worries. You can jump right in with this week’s challenge. Just check out the first two posts in the series to download your free checklists.

• 52-Week Decluttering Challenge
• Week 1 – Easy Decluttering Checklist

You can get easy access to all previous weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.

Week 21 – Decluttering around the tub and shower

I started this week’s task in our main bathroom. The area around the tub in this bathroom was already pretty clutter-free. Here’s what it looked like at the outset.

Since I didn’t find much to declutter in the main bathroom, I decided to move on to the downstairs bathroom. There’s more work to be done here, but most of this stuff belongs to my daughters so it’s not up to me to declutter.

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What I got rid of

Between the two bathrooms, I found very little to declutter this week. In total I got rid of 4 items from the main bathroom, and 1 item from the downstairs bathroom.

• 1 old razor
• 3 empty shampoo, shower gel, conditioner bottles
• 1 mesh back scrubber

This week’s decluttering and organizing tips

Since I didn’t get rid of a lot, my tips this week will focus on what I was already doing to keep the area around the tub or shower clutter-free.

• The single biggest change I’ve made to control clutter in this area has been swapping most of my plastic bottles of hair and skin products for bars. Check out 5 reasons to swap your bottles for bars for other benefits of making this swap.  
• To reduce clutter, commit to a use-it-up challenge. In the downstairs bathroom, I found 6 half-used bottles of shampoo and 3 half-empty bottles of conditioner. I think it’s time for my daughters to do this challenge.
• Look for multi-purpose items. Can you use your body wash or soap instead of shaving lotion? Can your bar soap replace your shower gel or body wash?
• Suction cups are a great solution to keep your sponges and poufs neat and organized. It also helps them dry more quickly to reduce bacteria.
• A hanging organizer like the one pictured below is an easy way to keep miscellaneous and small items like razors and squeegees out of the way.

2024 Update

It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.

I’ve done a good job of keeping our bathrooms clutter-free, so I only got rid of 3 things this week. A soap dish and a dried-up old bar of soap, and an empty shampoo bottle. Perhaps next week’s laundry room declutter will be more lucrative.

So that’s week 21 done. A less productive week than many others, but a good reminder of how owning less and living a greener, more eco-friendly lifestyle helps to control clutter.

Next week, we’re going to tackle the laundry room. A quick glance at my laundry room tells me next week will be much more productive!

If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!

What did you declutter from around your tub and shower this week? Tell us below.